A continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) was used to study the gas-phase reaction between H O and toluene. HO' was generated by the in situ photolysis of nitrous acid.Flow reactor operation at steady-state conditions with a residence time of 20 min allowed investigation of primary and very rapid secondary reactions. CSTR and batch reactor experiments were also performed with selected products. Both gas-phase and aerosol products were identified by chromatography and mass spectroscopy, with total product yields between 55 and 75% of reacted carbon. Toluene reaction products included cresols, nitrocresols, nitrotoluenes, 3,5-dinitrotouluene, benzaldehyde, benzyl nitrate, nitrophenols, methyl-p-benzoquinone, glyoxal, methylglyoxal, formaldehyde, methyl nitrate, PAN, and CO. The fraction of HO' methyl hydrogen abstraction was calculated to be 0.13 2 0.04. The ratio of reaction rate constants for nitrotoluene versus cresol formation from the HO-adduct was calculated to be about 3.3 x lo4. Also, the ratio of cresol formation versus 0, addition to the HO-adduct was estimated to be 20.5 for atmospheric conditions. Comparisons of these measurements with previous values and the implications with respect to photochemical kinetics modeling of the atmosphere are discussed.

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